Authorities round up suspects in drug operation

Published: Thursday, October 01, 1998

PHILLIP L. HAMILTONA-J State Editor

Maria Ascencio, 55, of Lockney was arrested on a second-degree felony charge of delivery of a controlled substance Wednesday as Floyd County lawmen continued their roundup of suspects in an 18-month undercover drug operation.

Ascencio was arrested at W.J. Mangold Memorial Hospital, where she was taken Tuesday night. She was arraigned on a charge of delivery of a controlled substance and bail was set at $10,000.

"She was in one of the houses when the officers went into Lockney (Tuesday night)," District Attorney Becky McPherson said Wednesday. "She was found with a bunch of cocaine, but she claimed she was sick and was taken to the hospital."

Ascencio was not among 11 people named in indictments returned by a Floyd County grand jury Tuesday, but she became a suspect during the dragnet by lawmen to arrest those who were charged.

Officers from the South Plains Narcotics Task Force fanned out at 7 p.m. Tuesday to begin making the arrests. Nine of the suspects were arrested in Lockney, while one was picked up in Floydada and another was caught in Lubbock.

"We've never had this many out of one town," McPherson said, who serves as district attorney for a three-county area.

"The Police Department set it up," she said. "They had someone giving them information - an informant who provided them with the names of several dealers and stuff like thatetke."

An undercover officer made at least 15 cocaine purchases in Lockney from January to August, according to court documents.

Lockney Police Chief Jerry Edwards said those buys ranged from less than a gram to 14 grams.

"A gram is what's in a packet of Sweet-N-Low," Edwards said. "So we're talking about a lot of cocaine."

Edwards said his three-man department worked for more than a year to develop informants. After getting to know some of the alleged dealers, the undercover officer began making buys in January.

"We had to have someone from outside because in a small town everyone knows who the police are," Edwards said. "I can put on a chicken suit and walk down the street and someone is going to say, `There goes the chief.' So we needed some help."

The chief said his department was well aware that Lockney had a drug problem long before he hosted a rally last year that drew more than 300 people.

"People told us there that they wanted something done, but what they didn't know was that we were already working on it. We weren't ignoring the problem, but we couldn't say what we were doing without jeopardizing the operation. We had to develop this over time."

Edwards said information gleaned from the investigation is being used in surrounding counties. He noted that some of the information the undercover officer picked up has already resulted in the arrest one person for selling a kilogram of cocaine. He declined to identify which county, saying additional arrests might be forthcoming.

Charged with first-degree and second-degree delivery of a controlled substance were Abraham Rosales, 40, Lockney, and Roberto Mireles, 29, Plainview. Bonds were set at $20,000 each.

Francisco Ascencio, 24, Lockney, is charged with second-degree and fourth-degree (state jail felony) delivery of a controlled substance. Bond was set at $20,000.